Iconic Dimondale eatery that closed to reopen with new owner, name

Lori Conarton, a life-long Dimondale resident and Village Council member, will open MorningLory Cafe & Bakery in downtown Dimondale this August. The Bridge Street building was home to Mike's Village Restaurant for nearly 50 years before the eatery closed in May.(Photo11: Rachel Greco/Lansing State Journal)Buy Photo

When heavy snow fell and classes were canceled in the winter, Conarton would walk down Bridge Street with friends for a hot plate of owner Mike Chappell's old-fashioned donuts at the downtown Dimondale eatery.

Between high school, college and her 31-year career in communications, she waited tables and washed dishes there, and she brought her two boys there when they were little.

Before the iconic restaurant closed in May, just shy of its 50-year anniversary, Conarton had become a regular. She stopped in most weekday mornings for a cup of coffee and a slice of toast with her mother before heading to work, and she was there most Saturday mornings catching up with a good friend.

Conarton never saw the restaurant's closure coming. She doesn't cook, she said, and has never owned a restaurant of her own, but within days of learning the news she had decided to save it.

Last week, in front of a crowd of about 70 people gathered outside what was Mike's Village Restaurant, Conarton stood under the building's green awning and announced her plans to reopen 115 N. Bridge St. as MorningLory Cafe & Bakery.

Dimondale needs the restaurant, Conarton said, and so does she.

"There hasn't been one hurdle that's made me think it can't happen. Every single step has been meant to be."

Classic recipes, new offerings planned

"This was my table," Conarton said from a bench on the sidewalk just outside the now empty downtown building, motioning to a window. "Right by the window."

It's Monday morning and Conarton can't help but get emotional about her decision to open her own restaurant there.

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Lori Conarton, a life-long Dimondale resident, talks about growing up and eating at Mike's Village Restaurant. The eatery closed in May, and Conarton is sprucing up the building before opening MorningLory Cafe & Bakery in the space in August.(Photo11: Rachel Greco/Lansing State Journal)

Her family has been in Dimondale for three generations. She's been on the Dimondale Village Council for a decade now. Before MorningLory opens in August, Conarton will leave her position of 31 years as communication's director with the Insurance Alliance of Michigan.

"It's a scary thing," she said, of the leap while she wiped away tears.

Inside the space, tables and chairs are gone, and the carpeting has been ripped out. New vinyl flooring will replace it, and Conarton said fresh, bright colors will replace the green on the interior walls. Before the doors open to customers the green awning overhead will be replaced too.

But fans of what Chappell created in the kitchen can relax. His recipes for old-fashioned donuts that were made to order, fresh breads, buns and pies, have been given to Conarton.

All of the beloved baked goods will be on the menu at MorningLory, made by a familiar face. Local resident and long-time Mike's employee Trudy Dreysse will be in the kitchen making them.

Dreysse, 63, has worked at the restaurant since she was 20. During her tenure she waited tables, cooked and baked.

She said Mike's was "the center" of Dimondale, but MorningLory will be a successful second act for the space.

"I've worked there for 43 years and I know everything about it," Dreysse said. "A customer would come in the door and I would know what they were going to order. This will be fun and exciting."

The new restaurant will offer baked goods from a bakery counter, where customers can come in just to order them.

"I want to have a designated space so people can come into the restaurant and get some bread, or some pies and cinnamon rolls," Conarton said.

The restaurant will employ a handful of staff. It will be open for breakfast and lunch, Tuesday through Sunday, with seating for just under 60 people and a smaller menu of breakfast items, sandwiches, soups and entree salads.

Conarton said good coffee will be part of the menu, too.

"I feel like we can be that place to go after church," she said. "I will be waitressing and dish washing, and all those things I used to do. It feels like it's come full circle."

Filling a hole downtown

New Dimondale Village Manager James Gallagher said Conarton's plans to reopen a restaurant where Mike's has been since 1968 will help keep the downtown vibrant.

In the month since its closure he said it's created a hole on Bridge Street.

"Every morning all the cars belonging to Mike's customers lined the streets," Gallagher said. "When it shut down the whole town in the morning was desolate-looking. Having a vacancy in the downtown is not good. It's detrimental."

Chappell said Conarton is a Dimondale fixture, herself, and wishes her well with the new concept. He still misses the restaurant business, he said, but plans to stop in when MorningLory Cafe & Bakery opens sometime in August.

"I had no idea in the beginning who might step forward to take this place," Chappell said. "I'm pleased at what's transpired. I hope it goes well for her."

MorningLory will hopefully cater to Mike's loyal clientele, Conarton said, while at the same time welcoming new faces.

"People are going to want to come here," she said. "I want it to feel homey. I want people to feel comfortable here. I want that family-friendly atmosphere that it had before."